A DRIVER had to be taken to hospital after a minibus transporting footballers collided with a security barrier at the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex car park.

The man, a 22-year-old from Croydon in south London, was trapped in the vehicle after the incident at 3.20pm at the Hillingdon Council-owned facility in Gatting Road, Uxbridge.

Firefighters from Chiswick and Richmond - called because colleagues from Hillingdon were attending another incident - had to cut him free.

The minibus was carrying a football team of 16- to 18-year-olds and was leaving the side car park, which serves the complex's sports track and all weather football pitch, when the collision occured. One passenger was injured alongside the driver.

He was taken in a stable condition to St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, north-west London, with chest injuries. Police are still on the scene but the sports centre itself and its main car park remain unaffected by the incident.

A Hillingdon Council spokeswoman said: "Following an incident earlier today at Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Centre, council officers and police are currently onsite and investigating."